Aircraft toy

ABSTRACT

An aircraft toy includes an aircraft toy body which receives a control data in an infrared ray which is transmitted from a controller by an infrared sensor module and flies according to the control data; and a chip composing the infrared sensor module is attached on a front surface of a substrate, the substrate includes a translucent portion which passes the infrared ray from a rear side of the substrate, and the chip is attached to the translucent portion of the substrate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an aircraft toy, and more particularlyto an aircraft toy comprising an aircraft toy body which flies by aninfrared control data.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, an aircraft toy which comprises an aircraft body and acontroller for operating the aircraft body is known as an aircraft toy.This aircraft toy is constructed so that the aircraft body is made tofly in a straight line or in a circle by an infrared control data fromthe controller (for example, JP7-40897A).

Concerning this aircraft toy, the main body of the aircraft body isformed with foamed resin.

In the aircraft toy in which the main body of the aircraft body isformed with foamed resin, an infrared sensor module which receives theinfrared control data is generally attached to a fuselage. In this case,a chip which composes the infrared sensor module is attached to thefuselage via a substrate.

In the case of the above described aircraft toy, there is a need to makethe infrared control data from the controller be receivable regardlessof the direction in which the aircraft toy body is located with respectto the controller.

However, there are cases where the infrared sensor module cannot receivethe infrared control data when the infrared control data is transmittedfrom a side of the surface (rear surface) of the aircraft toy body whichis opposite of the surface (front surface) of the aircraft toy body towhich the chip composing the infrared sensor module is attached.

In such case, the aircraft toy body becomes temporarily inoperable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problem, an object of the present invention is toprovide an aircraft toy which can surely receive a control data ofinfrared ray.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, an aircrafttoy comprises an aircraft toy body which receives a control data in aninfrared ray which is transmitted from a controller by an infraredsensor module and flies according to the control data; and a chipcomposing the infrared sensor module is attached on a front surface of asubstrate, the substrate comprises a translucent portion which passesthe infrared ray from a rear side of the substrate, and the chip isattached to the translucent portion of the substrate. In such case, theadhesive agent which adheres the chip is preferably transparent.Further, the electrode pattern for electrically connecting the chip ispreferably translucent. However, in case where the electrode pattern isnot made to be translucent, there is a need to compose the electrodepattern in a lattice pattern so that the light passing from the rearside of the substrate is not blocked. The translucent portion may beformed by forming holes on the substrate.

Preferably, a fuselage of the aircraft toy body is constructed in a thinplate shape and is constructed so that both of principal surfaces face aleft and a right of the aircraft toy body, and the substrate is attachedto the fuselage so that the both of principal surfaces face the left andthe right of the aircraft toy body.

According to the present invention, the chip which composes the infraredsensor module is attached to the translucent part of the substrate.Therefore, the infrared control data from the side of the surface (frontsurface) of the aircraft toy body to which the chip composing theinfrared sensor module is attached and the infrared control data fromthe side of the surface (rear surface) of the aircraft toy body which isopposite of the surface to which the chip is attached can be receivedsurely.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be fully understood from the detaileddescription given hereinafter and the accompanying drawings given by wayof illustration only, and thus are not intended as a definition of thelimits of the present invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outer appearance of an aircrafttoy to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an aircraft toy;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the structure of a tail unit of anaircraft toy;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuit structure of a controller;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the circuit structure of an aircraftbody of an aircraft toy;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing steps of a manufacturing method of a foamedmolded body; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a substrate in a state where an infrared sensormodule is attached.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an aircraft toy according to the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an aircraft toy; FIG. 2 is a plan viewof an aircraft body; FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the attachmentarrangement of a rudder; FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuitstructure of a controller; and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing thecircuit structure of an aircraft body.

(Overall Structure of the Aircraft Toy)

As shown in FIG. 1, an aircraft toy 1 comprises an aircraft body 2 and acontroller 3. The aircraft body 2 is operated by the controller 3, andfor example, the aircraft body 2 can be flown in a small space such asinside of a room or the like. In such case, the flight speed of theaircraft body 2 can be adjusted by the controller 3, and the aircraftbody 2 is allowed to fly in a left circle and a right circle by thecontroller 3.

(Structure of the Aircraft Body) 1. Overall

The main body of the aircraft body 2 comprises a fuselage 21, a mainwing 22, a horizontal tail 23, a trimtab 24, and a rudder 25. The abovecomponents are composed of foamed resin molded bodies. Concerning theaircraft toy 1 of the embodiment, polystyrene is used as a material ofthe foamed resin molded body, for example. The manufacturing method ofthe foamed molded body will be described later.

2. Main Wing

In the aircraft body 2 of the embodiment, the main wing 22 is a left andright integrated type. The main wing 22 is attached above the front partof the fuselage 21. However, the main wing 22 may be the left and rightintegrated type which is to be attached to the fuselage 21 by beinginserted in a slit formed on the fuselage 21. Further, the main wing 22may be a left and right separated type in which the left wing and theright wing are to be attached to the left side and the right side of thefuselage 21, respectively. Moreover, the main wing 22 may be attachedunder the front part of the fuselage 21.

3. Fuselage

In the aircraft body 2 of the embodiment, the fuselage 21 to which themain wing 22 is attached is not specifically limited, and the fuselage21 is constructed by pasting two foamed plastic thin plates togetherfrom the left and the right. A plurality of through holes 21 a whichpenetrate the fuselage 21 in the left-and-right direction are formed onthe fuselage 21. In such way, the weight of the aircraft body 2 isreduced. In the fuselage 21, a rear side of the part to which the mainwing 22 is attached is in a notched shape at an upper part thereof. Amotor 27 for propeller drive is attached to the fuselage 21 so that apropeller 26 positions at the notched part. The motor 27 for propellerdrive is driven and controlled according to the control data from thecontroller 3. In the aircraft body 2 of the embodiment, the propeller 26is constructed so as to rotate in the clockwise direction when seen fromthe rear of the aircraft body 2. By all means, the propeller 26 mayrotate in the counterclockwise direction. Further, it is needless to saythat the propeller 26 may be attached at the front end of the fuselage21.

Moreover, the rear portion of the notched part functions as a verticaltail in the fuselage 21.

4. Horizontal Tail

The horizontal tail 23 is attached above the rear end of the fuselage21. Although it is not specifically limited, in the aircraft body 2 ofthe embodiment, the horizontal tail 23 is constructed so that the leftwing and the right wing are integrated. A notch 23 a is formed at acenter in a left-and-right direction of the rear edge of the horizontaltail 23. The notch 23 a is left-right asymmetric when seen as a planview. The notch 23 a is to regulate the left and the right rudder anglesof the rudder 25, and the edge of the notch 23 a composes a stopper whenthe rudder 25 moves.

The trimtab 24 formed in a vertical tail-like shape is attached on anupper surface of the horizontal tail 23 so as to project upward.

5. Trimtab

The trimtab 24 is attached to the fuselage 21 in a state of beingslanted with respect to the central axis of the fuselage 21 so that,compared with the front part of the trimtab 24 in the direction offlight, the rear part of the timtab 24 in the direction of flight beaway from either the left or the right side of the aircraft body 2 inwhich the propeller slipstream is stronger. Concerning the propelleraircraft toy 1 of the embodiment, the propeller 26 rotates in theclockwise direction when seen from the rear of the aircraft body 2.Because the propeller slipstream is stronger in the right side of theaircraft body 2, the trimtab 24 is attached to the fuselage 21 in astate of being slanted with respect to the fuselage 21, so that the rearend of the trimtab 24 in the direction of flight shifts to the left sideof the aircraft body 2 comparing to the front end of the trimtab 24 inthe direction of flight, when the aircraft body 2 is seen from above.

6. Rudder

The rudder 25 is attached at a rear end of the fuselage 21. As shown inFIG. 3, the rudder 25 is linked to a vertical shaft 21 b which isattached to the fuselage 21. That is, one end of the linkage member 25 ais fixed to the rudder 25. The linkage member 25 a is inserted into acoil C which is attached to the fuselage 21, and the other end of thelinkage member 25 a engages with the vertical axis 21 b. The linkagemember 25 a is composed of a non-magnetic body, and a permanent magnet25 b is attached to the part of the linkage member 25 a which isinserted into the coil C. The permanent magnet 25 b is attached to thelinkage member 25 a so that either the N pole or the S pole faces eitherthe left side or the right side of the aircraft body 2 and the other ofthe N pole or the S pole faces the other side of the aircraft body 2.When the electric current flows in the coil C, the rudder 25 is to movein either the left or the right direction according to the currentdirection.

The upper end of the rudder 25 projects from the notch 23 a of thehorizontal tail 23. When the rudder 25 moves in a left-and-rightdirection, the movement of the rudder 25 is to be regulated by the edgesof the notch 23 a. In such case, the notch 23 a is constructed so thatthe maximum rudder angle in either the left side or the right side ofthe aircraft body in which the propeller slipstream is stronger issmaller comparing to the maximum rudder angle in the other side of theaircraft body. Concerning the propeller aircraft toy 1 of theembodiment, the propeller 26 rotates in the clockwise direction when theaircraft body 2 is seen from the rear. Because the propeller slipstreamis stronger in the right side of the aircraft body 2, the notch 23 a isformed so that the maximum rudder angle in the right side of theaircraft body 2 is smaller comparing to the maximum rudder angle in theleft side of the aircraft body 2.

7. Manufacturing Method of the Foamed Molded Body (FIG. 6)

A manufacturing method of the foamed molded body having a thickness of 2mm, for example, will be described. First, the primary foaming iscarried out for resin beads by using a foaming machine which isdifferent from the mold. In this case, for example, resin beads havingdiameters between 0.3 mm and 0.8 mm are used. The resin beads are madeinto resin beads of 3 mm in diameter. Next, the resin beads for whichthe primary foaming is carried out are introduced in the cavity in astate where a space is provided between the matching surfaces of eachmold which are used for the secondary foaming.

Subsequently, the molds are clamped after filling the cavity with theresin beads for which the primary foaming is carried out. That is, thematching surfaces of each mold are made to be in contact with oneanother completely. In such way, spaces between the resin beads becomesmaller. In this condition, the secondary foaming is carried out for theresin beads and the resin beads are molded. Accordingly, foamed moldedbodies formed in thin plates having high foaming ratio and which arehomogeneous can be obtained.

As described above, by filling the cavity with the resin beads for whichthe primary foaming is carried out in a state where the matchingsurfaces of each mold are separated from one another, even the resinbeads which are larger than the space thickness of the cavity (2 mm; thespace thickness in a clamped condition) can fill the cavity. Further,the above case is advantageous comparing to the case where the cavity isfilled with the resin beads in a clamped condition because the cavitycan be surely filled with the resin beads for which the primary foamingis carried out even when the resin beads which are smaller than thespace thickness (2 mm) of the cavity is used. For example, in a casewhere the cavity is filled with the resin beads in a clamped condition,the mold cannot be surely filled unless the resin beads are made to beabout 1 mm in diameter by reducing the ratio of primary foaming when thespace thickness of the cavity is about 2 mm. Further, when the secondaryfoaming is carried out while the cavity is not surely filled with theresin beads, the molded body will be full of holes. Meanwhile, when theresin beads for which the primary foaming is carried out are introducedin the cavity in a state where a space is provided between the matchingsurfaces of each mold which are to be used for the secondary foaming,even the resin beads having diameter of more than 1 mm can surely fillthe cavity.

When the main wing 22 composed of the foamed molded body is madeaccording to the above described method, a main wing of 22.8 cubiccentimeters in volume and 0.36 g in weight (that is, 0.0157 g per 1cubic centimeter) was obtained.

8. Other

For example, a battery 28 such as an electrolytic double layer capacitoror the like is attached at the front end of the fuselage 21. Further, asubstrate 29 to which various types of electronic/electrical parts andelectronic/electrical circuits are provided is attached to the fuselage21. A terminal 27 to charge the power source 28 is provided on thesubstrate 29.

(Construction of the Controller 3)

FIG. 1 shows the controller 3. A knob 3 a for controlling the propellerand a knob 3 b for controlling the rudder are provided on the controller3. Among them, the knob 3 a for controlling the propeller is to controlthe rotating speed of the propeller 26. Meanwhile, the knob 3 b forcontrolling the rudder is to move the rudder 25 in the left-and-rightdirection. Further, a power switch 3 c and an infrared LED 3 d areprovided on the controller 3.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuit structure of thecontroller 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the controller 3 comprises an IC 300for control, an input unit 301, an IC 302 for infrared remote controltransmission, an amplifier 303, a transmission unit 304, and a chargingunit 305. Among the above, the charging unit 305 is to charge thebattery 28 (for example, an electrolytic double layer capacitor) of theaircraft body 2. Here, though it is not shown in the drawing, a batterywhich is the power source is installed in the controller 3.

Here, the input unit 301 comprises the knob 3 a for controlling thepropeller and the knob 3 b for controlling the rudder. The IC 300 forcontrol comprises a ROM and a RAM which are omitted from the drawing.The IC 300 for control generates the control data based on operationinformation which is input from the input unit 301. The IC 302 forinfrared remote control transmission encodes and modulates the controldata which is generated by the IC 300 for control according to a givenrule. The amplifier 303 amplifies the control data which is modulated bythe IC 302 for infrared remote control transmission, and thetransmission unit 304 transmits the control data which is amplified bythe amplifier to the aircraft body 2. The transmission unit 304comprises the infrared LED 3 d.

(Circuit Structure of the Aircraft Body 2)

The circuit structure of the aircraft body 2 is shown in FIG. 5. Asshown in FIG. 5, the aircraft body 2 comprises an infrared sensor module200 a, an IC 200 b for receiving an infrared remote control, an IC 201for control, a motor drive unit 202, and a coil drive unit 203. Theinfrared sensor module 200 a comprises a receiving unit such as aphotoconductive diode, a phototransistor, or the like which receives theinfrared control data, an amplifying unit to amplify the infraredcontrol data which is received by the receiving unit, and a detectionunit to detect the infrared control data which is amplified by theamplifying unit. The infrared sensor module 200 a is composed by onechip. The IC 200 b for receiving the infrared remote control comprises aregistor to temporarily store the infrared control data which isdetected by the detection unit, a clock generating unit to generate acontrol clock, and a decoder to decode the data which is encodedaccording to a given rule (encoded data). The IC 201 for controlcomprises a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, which are omitted from the drawing.Further, the IC 201 for control stores the control data in the RAM, andcontrols the movement of the aircraft body 2 according to the program inthe ROM. The motor drive unit 202 stops the driving of the motor M forpropeller drive according to an order from the IC 201 for control,starts the driving of the motor, and changes the rotation speed of themotor. Meanwhile, the coil drive unit 203 stops supplying the power tothe coil C for rudder drive, starts supplying the power to the coil C,and changes the direction of the electricity current which supplieselectricity to the coil C according to an order of the IC 201 forcontrol.

Here, as shown in FIG. 7, the infrared sensor module 200 a, the IC 200 bfor receiving the infrared remote control, and the IC 201 for controlare adhered to the substrate 29. The substrate 29 is attached to thefuselage 21 so that both of the principal surfaces face the left and theright of the aircraft body 2. In the embodiment, a material such asglass epoxy is used as the substrate 29, for example, and a substrate inwhich the thickness is about 0.4 mm is used. Therefore, the substrate 29allows the infrared ray to pass through.

In such case, the chips which compose the infrared sensor module 200 aand the IC 200 b for receiving the infrared remote control,respectively, are adhered to the substrate 29 by a transparent resinadhesive agent (for example, transparent epoxy resin) and are coatedwith transparent resin. Further, an electrode pattern 29 a which isformed on the substrate 29 is in a lattice pattern. Concerning thewatermarked part of the lattice pattern, it is constructed so as not toblock the light passing though from the rear side of the substrate 29.Therefore, the infrared control data from the side of the surface (frontsurface) of the aircraft toy body to which the chip composing theinfrared sensor module 200 a is attached and the infrared control datafrom the side of the opposite surface (rear surface) can be receivedsurely.

Moreover, the IC 201 for control is coated with resin for blockingultraviolet ray (for example, black epoxy resin).

Here, each chip and the electrode pattern are electrically connecteddirectly or via a wire.

The embodiment of the present invention is described above. However, thepresent invention is not limited to the embodiment, and can be variouslymodified within the gist of the invention.

The entire disclosures of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-191824filed on Jul. 12, 2006 including specification, claims, drawings andabstract thereof are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

1. An aircraft toy, comprising: an aircraft toy body which receives acontrol data in an infrared ray which is transmitted from a controllerby an infrared sensor module and flies according to the control data,wherein a chip composing the infrared sensor module is attached on afront surface of a substrate, and the substrate comprises a translucentportion which passes the infrared ray from a rear side of the substrate,and the chip is attached to the translucent portion of the substrate. 2.The aircraft toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein a fuselage of theaircraft toy body is constructed in a thin plate shape, and isconstructed so that both of principal surfaces face a left and a rightof the aircraft toy body, and the substrate is attached to the fuselageso that the both of principal surfaces face the left and the right ofthe aircraft toy body.